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Preface Events of the last few decades have led to remarkable growth in the importance of polysaccharides to the global economy. Polysaccharides are natural polymers found in all living organisms, with variety and complexity of structure and function that are unrivaled among natural polymers. Concerns about depletion of the global petroleum supply, and a consequent severe rise in petroleum prices, have enhanced interest in polysaccharide science. Much of this interest to date has been directed at improving the processes by which polysaccharides can be converted to biofuels such as ethanol and n-butanol. The recent instability in petroleum prices has underscored the importance of this research, which promises to create the basis for an industry producing renewable fuels that do not contribute to global warming. Natural polysaccharides are also of growing and intense interest as sources of materials. Some of this interest is driven by the same price, climate change, security, and availability factors that propel the current interest in biofuels production. Petroleum is, after all, also the source of most of the materials used to create the objects we use in all aspects of our daily lives. Another key factor is our developing ability to control polysaccharide microstructure, determine structure-property relationships, and rationally design high-performance materials from polysaccharides. The ability to understand, control, and utilize the structures of these complex polymers, and their derivatives, promises to provide a new realm of renewable and abundant building blocks for modern materials scientists. This book is based on a recent symposium on these subjects, entitled “Synthesis and Structure/Property Relationships of Polysaccharides”, the Anselme Payen Award symposium of the ACS Cellulose and Renewable Materials Division in Chicago, Illinois, March 25-27, 2007, in honor of Charles Buchanan. Perusal of this volume will take the reader through a series of chapters covering recent progress in the important area of polysaccharides in drug delivery, where the vital roles that polysaccharides and derivatives in areas such as targeted delivery, drug bioavailability, and patient compliance are elucidated. The following chapters provide an enlightening view of the frontiers in the synthesis of polysaccharide derivatives of controlled microstructure, and the use of these polysaccharides and derivatives in advanced materials such as nanostructured composites. The volume concludes with two chapters; first, one on the utilization of complex polysaccharides as chemical feedstocks (biorefinery concept), which may be converted to small molecule building blocks in schemes analogous in concept, but rather different in chemistry, from those employed in the petroleum refinery. The final chapter discusses the allimportant topic of the analytical chemistry of polysaccharides, specifically solid
ix In Polysaccharide Materials: Performance by Design; Edgar, K., et al.; ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2010.
state NMR spectroscopy of polysaccharides. The challenges of analysis underpin all other studies of these complex materials. We wish to thank the sponsors of the 2007 Payen Award Symposium, without whom this volume would not have been possible:
Downloaded by UNIV OF ALABAMA TUSCALOOSA on July 25, 2013 | http://pubs.acs.org Publication Date (Web): December 20, 2009 | doi: 10.1021/bk-2009-1017.pr001
Eastman Chemical Company Borregaard ChemCell CyDex Pharmaceuticals
Novamont Industries Rayonier Specialty Fibers Weyerhaeuser
We thank the international group of reviewers, who gave willingly and generously of their time to help improve the quality of these chapters. We offer sincere appreciation to Jessica Rucker of ACS, whose patience and knowledge made the editorial process smooth and relatively painless. The editors are indebted to their respective institutions for financial and logistic support of this endeavor. Finally, thanks to all our authors, whose skill and insight created the science, and whose communication skills show through in every page of contributions; it is truly their book. Kevin J. Edgar Macromolecules and Interfaces Inst. & Dept. of Wood Science & Forest Products, Virginia Tech 230 Cheatham Hall, Mail Code 0323 Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA Charles M. Buchanan Research Laboratories Eastman Chemical Company Kingsport, TN 37662, USA Thomas Heinze Center of Excellence for Polysaccharide Science Friedrich Schiller University of Jena Humboldtstrasse 10 D-07743 Jena, Germany
x In Polysaccharide Materials: Performance by Design; Edgar, K., et al.; ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2010.
